Demographics of Venezuela
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Template:Venezolanos The Demographics of Venezuela are the condition and overview of Venezuela's peoples. Demographic topics include basic education, health, and population statistics as well as identified racial and religious affiliations.
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Background and overview
Venezuela's peoples are descended primarily from forebearers of Venezuelan indigenous, African, and Spanish European heritage. Although the Castillian dialect of the Spanish language is the official language, there are spoken numerous indigenous languages. Some 85% of the Venezuelan population currently resides in the urban conglomerations (Caracas, Valencia (Venezuela), Maracaibo, et cetera) that are concentrated in Venezuela's northern coastal mountain strip. Nearly half of Venezuela's geographic area lies south of the Orinoco River; however, this region contains only 5% of the Venezuelan population.
Venezuela's criminality has dramatically risen since 1998. It has one of the highest rates of murders per 100000 inhabitants in all Latin America, as the reports from United Nations' Office on Drugs and Crimes show. Venezuela's Human Development Index for 2005 was 0.772 or rank 75. In 1998, Venezuela had the position 65.
Population
Image:Venezuela-demography.png
Overview
The July 2005 CIA estimate puts Venezuela's total population at 25,375,281 inhabitants. It should be noted that many Venezuelan government officials, statisticians, and activists consider this a gross underestimate. Notably, the 2005 INE estimate is 26,577,423 inhabitants. Additionally, over the past five years, Venezuelan society's general age structure has been trending towards the homologous structure found in Cuba, Western Europe, Japan, and other healthy and rapidly aging societies. Notably, there has been a significant increase in the proportion and gross numbers of elderly Venezuelans (aged 65 and up), as well as a corresponding drop in the total fertility rate.
Total population
- The 2005 CIA estimate is 25,375,281 inhabitants in Venezuela.
Life expectancy at birth
| Group | Longevity (years) |
|---|---|
| Total population: | 74.31 |
| Females: | 77.58 |
| Males: | 71.27 |
Population growth rate
- 1.4% (2005 estimate).
Birth and death rates
- 18.91 births per 1,000 population (2005 estimate).
- 4.90 deaths per 1,000 population (2005 estimate).
Total fertility rate
- 2.91 children born per woman (2000 estimate).
Infant mortality rate
- 26.17 deaths per 1,000 live births (2000 estimate).
Age structure
| age group (years) | % | male | female |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-14: | 29.9% | 3,909,876 | 3,667,958 |
| 15-64: | 65% | 8,287,255 | 8,209,599 |
| 65 and up: | 5.1% | 590,236 | 710,357 |
Sex ratio
| Age | Ratio (males/females) |
|---|---|
| Total: | 1.02 |
| At birth: | 1.07 |
| Under 15: | 1.07 |
| 15-64: | 1.01 |
| Over 65: | 0.83 |
Net emigration rate
Venezuela loses about 0.19 emigrants for each 1,000 members of its population (2000 estimate).
Literacy and education
The accepted formal and demographic definition of the literacy rate is that proportion or percentage of the Venezuelan population older than age 15 that can both read and write. The below are 2003 estimates from the 2005 CIA World Factbook.
| Population group | % |
|---|---|
| Total population: | 93.4% |
| Male: | 93.8% |
| Female: | 93.1% |
Ethnic and religious affiliations
Ethnic affiliation
According to the 2005 CIA World Factbook, Venezuela's main ethnic affiliations are Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arab, German, African, indigenous people and the mestizaje who in Venezuela represent about 67% of the total population, [1].
Religious affiliation
The overwhelming majority of Venezuelans denote themselves as adherents of Catholicism; this is true nominally if not in practice.
| Religion | % |
|---|---|
| Roman Catholic: | 96% |
| Protestant: | 2% |
| Others: | 2% |
References
- This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain. [2] (2005)
- The article contains a statistical reference from the Wikipedia public domain [3](2006).
See also
Template:Topics related to Venezuela
Template:South America in topices:Demografía de Venezuela fr:Démographie du Venezuela pt:Demografia da Venezuela